Interludes: 3Duties
by Hardwing
Summary: The Interludes continue when the call of duty forces different persons to make decisions which may alter their lives... or that of the ones they serve.
1. 1The second

_I just want to thank the creators of DARK AGES for creating such a great background and Storyseeker for correcting my fics and helping me with great ideas, as for Worker72 and Doppleganger for their reviews._

**3.Duties**

**04.08.98; 20:27; Castle Wyvern, highest tower:**

With the dying of the last sunbeam and the rising of the night, first fine, then big drafts showed on the skin of the statue on the highest tower of the highest building in Manhattan.

This lasted two seconds, until the statue rose with a mighty roar, shaking away the pieces of stone skin covering him while the air over the castle filled itself with other roars, large and small ones.

The leader of the clan looked around, seeing his clan siblings jumping from their sleep perches to go after their activities and duties. Looking down from his perch Goliath discovered Brooklyn, still standing on the traditional sleeping perch of the second, stretching himself and removing the last parts of his stone skin.

Knowing that this was the best time when ever, Goliath jumped from his perch and glided down, landing besides his second who just had leaved his perch.

"Night Goliath." Brooklyn greeted his leader with a grin, feeling good since he had a woooonderful dream, including a beautiful gargess named Lana.

"Brooklyn," Goliath greeted back, his face being stern like his voice. "we have to talk."

Brooklyn looked surprised on his leader, surprised by the hardness in his voice.

Goliath meanwhile looked around, seeing Deborah and Hudson who, accompanied by Bronx, just left this level of the tower, sure haven't noticed that there was something to be talked between the leader and his second alone.

"About what?" Brooklyn asked, surprised.

"About Darlene's daughter." Goliath replied.

"Lana?" Brooklyn asked and when Goliath nodded he smiled "Yeah she is hot!"

"Hot." Goliath noticed, grossing his arms "I thought we had this with Angela already."

Brooklyn realised what Goliath was heading to.

"It wasn't like with Angela." he defended himself "I just showed my interest."

"I didn't see it so," his leader noticed "neither did the elders who saw it."

Brooklyn winced, he hadn't thought about that he had been watched, indeed he hadn't thought about much other than Lana a night ago.

"They saw it?" he asked.

"Yes, and they weren't pleased." Goliath said. "You know some in the clan just wait on a reason to doubt your place as my second."

Brooklyn, nodded, thinking about it.

"You order me to give up Lana." he concluded after some seconds.

Goliath slightly shook his head.

"No, I neither order you, nor your siblings to do so... as long as it doesn't go to far." he explained "But I have to remind you that, as second, your attitude has to be an example for the rest clan, as for your siblings."

Brooklyn looked to his leader.

"I understand," he promised him, sounding slightly depressed. "and I promise that this won't happen again."

"Good." Goliath told his second and laid the right claw on his Brooklyn's left shoulder "Everyone has to make sacrifices sometimes, but it is for the best of the clan."

Brooklyn nodded and his leader departed, going down the tower, leaving him alone.

The second of the clan Manhattan stayed so a second, before turning around and looking down to the courtyard where the clan... his clan went after their usual business.

being role model Brooklyn thought guess I never saw it such before

He saw three members of the clan leaving the castle into the direction of the clock tower... the police station where they were going to meet their partners for their night shift and noticed how he envied them for the easiness of their job.

chasing bad guys, helping good guys Brooklyn thought, studying how the long one with the brown-grey skin and the white hair, who was of the Moray clan once and now was part of his responsibilities would it be so easy

He let his head resting on his arms laying on the battlement, thinking...

When he had become second he had just thought on the honour this title brought. First in Goliath's absence during his Avalon tour, when they hadn't known if their leader ever came back, he had recognised what it really meant to be a second, even a leader, the responsibilities and duties it could bring.

seems like I hadn't learned it, yet Brooklyn thought sarcastically, looking down to some hatchlings playing in the courtyard. do **they** see me as role model?

He had done so back in Wyvern he guessed, first he had looked up to Deborah, then to Goliath and Demona....

Except the last one they had all been good examples and he had turned in a somehow good warrior and capable second hadn't he?

Brooklyn thought about how the hatchlings looked at him every time he taught them in his literature class and knew that they did.

being a role model he thought again guess this is one of the sacrifices I have to bring for the clan in this position

The second looked down from his position on the parts of the clan who had gathered in the courtyard and on the walls of the castle, discovering one of his rookery brothers embracing one of his rookery sister's in a clear way.

one more sacrifice


	2. 2The detective

**07.08.98; 20:14 Police Station:**

Elisa looked around, standing before Chavez's office and waited.

where is he? she thought and absently touched the slight arch in her Bomber Jacket. this will be complicated enough

Luckily the person she waited for turned around the corner just in this moment.

"Hello Matt." she greeted him.

"Hi ex-partner." Matt Bluestone greeted back "Sorry for being late."

"No matter." Elisa replied "I know you have a lot to do by coordinating your team."

"Much paperwork, but the last weeks it was calm." Matt said and noticed at once how Elisa's smile became hollow. "What is it?"

"We better go in." she told him, doing so by herself.

Noticing her both detectives entering, Chavez looked up from her desk.

"There is something I have to inform you about." Elisa began after Matt had closed the door behind his back.

"About what?" Chavez asked, looking surprised to Maza who made a decision.

She opened the pocket of her jacket and revealed two balls, both shinning in slight green. Before Matt or Chavez could ask anything she threw the balls to their feet...

Green smoke covered their heads faster than they could turn away and faster than they could wonder about it, it had disappeared, alike with the remains of the balls.

"Is everything ok?" Elisa asked them, sawing how Matt stumbled a bit and propping him by grabbing his arm.

"Whoa..." Matt exclaimed "This was real?"

Elisa nodded, taking of her arm from him and looked to Chavez.

"A friend of the clan undid Demona's magic by them and me." she explained "As he gave me these balls to undo the spell by you."

Matt massaged the temples of his head as if he had head aches, trying to get in his mind what had happened.

"The victims?" he asked, still a bit confused.

"I checked the obituaries," Elisa explained "under the names I recognised stood that they died by accident... seemingly the spell worked completely."

Matt nodded while his captain stayed unmoved.

"Detective Bluestone," Chavez told, him, looking up from her table. "would you leave the room I and Detective Maza have to talk."

Matt exchanged a look with his ex-partner and nodded, leaving the room quickly.

When it was just they two, Elisa turned her look to Chavez who studied her.

"Please sit down." Chavez ordered.

Elisa didn't respond, but followed the order, sitting down in the uncomfortable silence.

"How long have you known about this?" Chavez asked her.

"Three nights," Elisa explained "but we..."

"And who _undid_ the spell?" her captain asked, not going in on Elisa's explanation.

Elisa waited a second, not knowing if Puck would accept her to reveal this.

"A magical being who is close to the clan." she finally said.

"You don't tell the whole truth." her captain replied. "As you never have coming to the gargoyles."

Elisa stayed silence, knowing that it was better to say nothing now.

"I know that you know the gargoyles longer than you told me." Chavez said "Maybe since your disappearing?"

Elisa stayed calm.

"I first met Goliath shortly before the attacks on the Cyberiotics centres." she revealed. "And I was it who showed them a place to live on the clock tower."

"I need not to remind you on the fact that you have brought all officers here in danger through this decision, have I?" Chavez asked.

Elisa shook her head, knowing she meant the destruction of the Clock Tower by the hunters and near destruction of the police station, not to speak of the injuries most of her colleagues had had to suffer.

"So you became close with them." Chavez noticed "And their leader."

Elisa winced, looking in her captain's face, trying to guess if she had found out already or was just guessing.

"I'm member of the clan." she explained "And I'm Goliath's mate."

"Mate..." Chavez whispered, as to assure herself "this means you are married by gargoyle law?"

Elisa nodded, even when she knew it was more subtle than just the transfer of a marriage in human terms.

"This explains most." Chavez noticed, leaning back in her chair.

"If you mean I had forgotten my duty I..." Elisa began, wildly, standing up from her place.

"Hiding the existence of possibly dangerous creatures," Chavez counted "lying to a superior officer, allowing them to make terror in the city..."

"They defended the city." Elisa defended her clan.

"They chased thieves as if they would be their prey," Chavez replied "Not to speak of the material damages they caused while you helped them."

Elisa stayed silent so Chavez continued.

"They were no worried citizens going on patrol." the captain noticed "And you are a cop, you have sworn to protect this city by uphold the law. If everyone would handle the law as you did the streets soon would be red by these ones murdered by self-justice. This is **NO** attitude I allow any of my officers."

"You have to decide if you are on their site or on that of the law." Chavez explained.

There was silence while Elisa looked in Chavez eyes.

"Is this all?" Elisa asked with somewhat of a dry mouth.

"I want to hear everything you learned about the gargoyles until now." Chavez demanded.

Elisa nodded.

"I met them four years ago when I investigated the incident at Xanatos's castle.." she began.


	3. 3The doctor

**12.08.98; 02:17; Somewhere beneath castle Wyvern:**

"BEEP... BEEP... BEEP."

There were definitely better ways to wake up than this.

"BEEP... BEEP... BEEP."

There were definitely better times to stand up than this.

"BEEP... BEEP... BEEP."

There was definitely no choice for him.

Groaning Moore raised from the bed, looking around just to see his beeper on the bedside table shining red and ringing like mad while jumping around.

this is worse than night-shift by in a hospital Moore though, grabbing his trousers and searching for his shirt

Having pulled it over he searched for his shoes, but since he didn't found it on the first look he moved in his slippers and fastened out of his room, racing to the elevators.

The elevators showed both to be parked at the lowest level of the highest building in New York. While he raced to the doors of the staircase he asked himself again why he was doing this job.

No holidays in any days ahead, standby duty all night... oh yes and the danger of becoming a target of remnants of the Quarrymen and other people who weren't so pleased about his job.

all this just because of an article in the Medical Review about the possible anatomy of gargoyles which luckily met their real anatomy very exactly Moore cursed why have I even accepted Xanatos's offer?

The simple truth was that after this article the chief of the hospital had dismissed him without notice because he seemed a cause of danger for his patients. To top it, his wife had left him, suing him on everything he owned, winning the process since the judge had discovered a heard for her.

so when a man with blond hair and a stone hand, stood in front of your door, offering you a job you couldn't resist Moore thought while racing further up the steps at least he pays enough

As Xanatos had pointed out, he was not just the doctor of the clan, but even so of him and his family, especially his son... most of all his son.

Moore sometimes watched Alexander Xanatos running... and floating around while playing with the gargoyle hatchlings. According to this and his checks, he knew that the child possibly would never have any problems by health, as far as he could say this by a practically mystic being.

if every part of this job would be so easy

With this thought and somewhat of out of breath, Moore pushed the doors open, entering the traditional part of the castle.

A gargoyle stood ahead of him, seemingly waiting for the elevator to come, doubtlessly waiting on him.

The gargoyle, with red-coloured skin, white hair and a white beard turned to him.

"We need you at the medicine station doctor!" he told him urgently.

"Oh..." Moore replied sarcastically and still out of breath "Really?"

"Yes," the gargoyle replied, not noticing or not wanting to go in on the sarcasm in the doctor's voice. "fast!"

With this the gargoyle turned around, racing down the floor, an cursing doctor following him. Fast they came to the medicine station, where Moore seemingly was waited for already by a bunch of gargoyles.

"Who is hurt...." Moore asked them, again out of breath "...and how?"

"An elder," an somewhat older gargess explained "one of his leg's causes him pain."

Moore nodded, even when he wished the gargoyles would relay more on names sometimes and went into the station while the bulk of gargoyles stayed outside.

Very thankful for this, Moore went through two large swinging doors, entering the heart of the medicine station, containing six beds and various ultra modern machines of which other doctors sure dreamed of while they slept.

One of the beds was currently used by an elder gargoyle indeed, Hudson Moore believed to be his name. His younger mate, holding his claw and the clan leader Goliath with the clan's healer stood beside him, looking worriedly on him.

Coming closer Moore noticed that the elder gargoyle held his right upper leg close to his body, his face being a grimace while he tried to control his pains.

"What happened?" Moore asked the gathered, while he arrived at the bed, looking on the leg which didn't seem to bleed.

"We don't know." Deborah replied, looking up from her mate "I and my mate talked and suddenly he grabbed his leg..."

Moore nodded.

"Hudson," he began, addressing to the gargoyle whose name he remembered again "I have to take a look on it."

The old gargoyle nodded, taking away his right claw of his leg and clutching the bed instead.

Moore didn't need to look long at the leg, before he discovered a small but long scar, running length the upper leg.

"As he anyhow hurt his leg in the last nights?" he asked the surroundings.

On this the gargoyles threw at each other a knowing look, but before Moore could ask them what this meant, Goliath turned to him.

"Eight nights ago the leg was stabbed by a sword." he explained.

"And you didn't thought about informing me?!" Moore asked all of them upset.

"It was a very difficult situation." Goliath said "And the leg seemed to fine after a day of stone-sleep."

"It wasn't lad..." Hudson told them through large concentration under pain "I felt some pains before, but never like this...."

"And why haven't ye told me?!" Deborah asked, him furiously.

"I hoped it would go away..." her mate replied with the try of a grin.

"Oh ye stubborn old ox." Deborah rebuked him, even when in a tone which seemed more fitting to a love statement.

"Sometimes there were broken wings which hadn't healed correctly during the day." the clan's healer, a female who hadn't taken a name, noticed. "But the leg seemed to have healed correctly so far."

"Then we have to look deeper." Moore noticed, taking a machine or wheels through the room besides the bed. "Let's see if this ultrasound machine works not just by eggs."

With a tube, placed on the machine beside the monitor, Moore spread some gel on the right upper leg and activated the machine.

"Can't ye give him some painkilling medicines?" Deborah asked the doctor, sick of seeing her mate suffer.

"Not before I know what causes this." Dr. Moore replied, pressing the probe against the leg "Else it may make it worse... Jesus!"

Moore starred in shock on the monitor, while the others did the same, but without recognizing very much.

"What is it?" Deborah asked, starring onto the monitor but not recognizing much.

Moore turned some buttons near the monitor and at once it cleared, revealing the three dimensional image of a transparent leg, transparent until...

"The black mass in the middle," the clan's healer began "what is it?"

"It looks like cancer." Moore replied.

"What?" Deborah asked.

Hudson groaned, due in pain and in shock while Goliath and the clan's healer just starred on the doctor horrified.

"I said it looks like this," Moore told them, while he starred at the monitor, as if to calm them down, just to continue "but it grows too fast."

"How fast?" Hudson demanded to know, as if to underline Moore's words, his pains seemed to grow in this moment.

Moore looked down on the old gargoyle, completely serious.

"We have to operate at once..." Moore explained "or you might lose the leg."


	4. 4The Captain

**12.08.98; 04:32; Destine Mansion:**

Elisa parked her car in the courtyard of the large mansion, looking around to the front-passenger seat.

"You should stay here." she told the person sitting there. "Demona will be mad enough for that I'm here."

"Then let her be." Chavez replied, going out of the car.

Elisa nodded and went out of the car herself, looking through the courtyard by herself.

Dark was maybe the best way to describe it.

When both had reached the door, shortly starring on the creepy head 'decorating' the door, Elisa rang the doorbell.

Some seconds nothing happened and Elisa was just going to put the bell again when the door opened, slowly, nearly reluctant.

"I wanted you to come alone human." Demona's icy voice told them.

"When I heard of who called I decided to come with her Miss Destine." Chavez replied, even when she knew that it was directed on another human. "So do you let us come in or shall I come back with a search warrant?"

The not so surprising reply was a loud snarl together with the up lightening of two blood red eyes in the shadows, which let Elisa and Chavez at once grab after their guns.

"Demona," Elisa began, calming down. "you asked after me, sure for a reason, so please let me help."

Demona hesitated a second, but finally Elisa could hear a sigh and the door was opened completely.

"Come in," the demon ordered them, having her back already turned to her newest guests. "and close the door behind you."

Elisa was the first to step in and looked around in the floor while Chavez closed the door behind her.

The first thing Elisa discovered beside Demona's back was Shade, sitting on the foot of the steps, studying the newly arrived watchful.

"Hey." Elisa greeted the beast.

Shade let out a loud growl in response which made Elisa stare on her. For all the six months she knew her, Shade had been mostly lethargic, but when she saw her now Elisa had no doubt that on one word of Demona she would go for her throat.

"Why have you called us." Chavez asked Demona from the door, ignoring the beast.

Demona leaned against the wall in the floor studying both police officers.

"Nearly two hours ago my granddaughter heard someone knocking on the door." the immortal explained "It was no one outside but... I'll show you."

With this Demona turned around walking through a door.

When Elisa and Chavez followed her, they entered a room which Elisa recognized as living room, as she recognized someone sitting there on an armchair.

"Asrial?" Elisa asked the caramel skinned gargoyle, who was maybe the last member of the clan she had guessed to be here anyway. "What are you doing here?"

"Making a visit," Asrail explained "together with my brother."

"Goliath?" Elisa guessed, still having problem by this sort of definition of a person.

"No," Asrial answered "Thersities."

Elisa nodded, still not knowing why especially this gargoyles had come here.

"This is it?" Chavez asked Demona whom she had followed to the dinner table, showing on the box.

Demona nodded.

"What is in it?" Elisa asked, following Chavez to the table.

"Why don't you look yourself?" Demona asked, sounding annoyed.

Elisa starred on her while Asrial gasped.

"Sister!" she exclaimed, but didn't come much further since Chavez had followed Demona's suggestion and moved to the box, touching the opening with one hand.

When continued to lift it, Maria Chavez was studied by all four females in the room, including Shade.

Having opened the box and taken a quick look in it, Chavez pulled her hand back quickly, placing it before her mouth while the box closed itself.

Elisa was surprised by this since she knew Chavez had seen a lot of things during her years on the streets and wasn't so light to shock. While her captain tried not to puke her evening meal, Elisa took the box by herself and risked a look inside.

What she saw let her wish she had eaten nothing today... and the weak before and while she worked not to vomit she heard how Chavez began to speak.

"Any ideas who sent this to you?" Chavez asked Demona.

"Lucifia." the gargess replied "Who else knows where I live and holds a grudge against me?"

"Macbeth, a new hunter," Chavez counted, "someone hired by Thailog...."

Demona's snarl stopped her, but instead to her, the demon's blood red eyes looked to Elisa.

"**YOU FOOLISH HUMAN DARED TO TELL HER?!**" she asked furiously, obviously not happy that her life story became known to the world.

"**Mother!**" This angry voice made everybody in the room turn around, discovering Darlene standing in the entrance of the door.

"We heard you from above." she stated more calm "Please no more trouble tonight, at least for Lana."

Demona's eyes lasted for one second in her daughter's, but then she nodded.

"Could you help us then Miss Anderson?" Chavez asked her.

"I'll help as good as I can." Darlene promised, deciding not to see how her mother stabbed Elisa with thousand angry glares when Chavez mentioned her family name.

"Good," Chavez replied, knowing that she definitely would get more help from this family member than from Miss Destine. "so what happened."

Darlene sighed, beginning to tell.


	5. 5The mother

**12.08.98; 02:47; Destine Mansion:**

Thersities wanted to say something, but no letter escaped his mouth, since in this moment a shrill cry filled the house, which made the gargoyle spun around in shock.

"What…?" Thersities began.

"Lana!" Darlene shrieked, already going down on her fours and running to the stairs.

When she reached the stairs, Darlene discovered her daughter lying at the end of the stairs on the floor, crouched to a ball with Shade by her, trying without success to comfort her. While racing down, Darlene noticed that Lana was alive, but trembling all over her whole body as if she had fever... obviously in shock.

"Lana?" Darlene said to her eldest daughter while kneeling down beside her. "What is it?"

When Lana heard the warm sound of her mother's voice, she looked up, staring at her in a scared, hounded way that it made Darlene's soul shudder, but before she could say anything, Lana embraced her so hard that she pressed the air out of her lungs.

Not being able to do much else, Darlene embraced her daughter in return, stroking her hair to calm her down, as she would have done with Gem while staring at the end of the stairs where she had discovered the closed box.

Thersities meanwhile went down beside the sitting gargesses, and the gargbeast, to look at the box, which was closed.

"What's in it?" Darlene asked him, still holding her daughter.

Thersities shuddered, as he definitely didn't want to learn what could upset Lana so, yet he knelt down, laying a claw on the box and...

"What happened here?" a loud, worried, and at the same time commanding voice asked and made Thersities shriek up.

Turning around, he discovered his sisters walking down the stairs, Demona kneeling down by her daughter and granddaughter while Asrial walked over to him and the box.

"Something in the box terrified her." Darlene explained to her mother.

Demona turned her view to the box and Thersities standing before it.

"What is in it?" she asked her brother.

"I had no time to..." Thersities began, but didn't end it since Demona had already walked up to him, kneeling down by the box.

From her position by the stairs, Darlene saw Asrial and Thersities surrounding her mother, staring captured, as their sister opened the box.

The reaction was imminent. Asrial turned in shock, while Thersities's face became white, beginning by the beak and he seemed unable to turn his face away.

Darlene's mother meanwhile looked in the box even so, but seemingly not shocked or just surprised, only interested.

"What is it?" Darlene asked, even when a part of her didn't want to know.

"The head of a human baby." Demona noticed in the same tone, as if she would say the weather was good while she closed the box.

At her chest, Darlene felt her daughter sob up, wetting her clothes with her tears while Darlene felt tears threatening to spill from her eyes even so, but she fought them, swearing to be strong, at least for Lana.

Suddenly, Darlene heard tiny claw steps from above and looking up she discovered Gem standing on all her fours, at the top of the stairs, looking down on her family.

"No..." Darlene whispered, totally stressed. She had already asked herself why Jarred hadn't come, with the loud music coming from his room being the answer, but Gem had now somehow managed to escape her crib... again.

Gem slowly sensed that something wasn't right and began to whimper. Before this whimper could rise to a wail and Darlene had to decide how to calm both her daughter's down, Thersities raced up, taking up the hatchling.

Gem resisted at first, squirming in the gargoyle's arms, but when Thersities moved closer to Darlene, letting the hatchling see her mother who stroked her blond hair with one claw, she calmed down.

Having done so, Darlene turned her attention to her other daughter, who seemed to have calmed down even so.

"Lana?" she said to her oldest daughter.

Slowly, Lana took her head from her mother's breast, staring on the box with the terrible content.

"Who gave this to you?" Demona asked her granddaughter in a calm but demanding voice.

Lana stayed silent, still looking through her reddened eyes on the box and Darlene feared that her daughter might be in shock.

"Lana!" Demona told her again.

"Mother, she..." is in shock Darlene wanted to tell her mother angrily, but was stopped in the middle of it.

"There was a knock on the door, so I looked on the monitor, but saw nothing out there except the box." Lana explained in a monotone voice. "I thought it was a present from some of the guys of the clan, but it wasn't, it was..."

Her voice trembled until it finally broke up, leaving her breathing heavily. Darlene touched Lana's shoulder, trying to pull her close to her again, but Lana resisted, leaning with her back on the wall instead and staring in the air. Shade whined on this, laying her scarred head in Lana's lap, not that she noticed it.

This gave Darlene time to take a look to Gem in Thersities's arms. Even though far from sleepy, the hatchling had calmed down, looking interested on her mother.

Meanwhile, Demona had walked to the monitor near the door, punching some buttons and seemingly rewinding it. Asrial stared on her and despite the events of this evening, she got curious. Since she couldn't see the monitor from her position, she went beside her sister, the trouble with her just shortly before forgotten for the moment.

It needed some seconds before the video was rewound, until Demona pressed play. There it was... a gargess with dark hair placing a box in front of the door before knocking on it.

The gargess looked up and grinned, looking straight into the camera, waving a talon as if to greet whoever could see her, then she knocked again, before rushing outside the view of the camera.

Shuddering, Asrial looked into her sister's face, but it was an icy mask, not even giving a hint of her true feelings.

"Mother, who was it?" Darlene asked her mother, concerned by the look in her mother's eyes.

"Your sister." Demona replied, looking up from the monitor to her daughter.

"Lucifia..." Darlene whispered, when a feeling like ice crept up her tail and spine.

Her mother didn't respond, but turned around, walking to the box.

"Ähh, sister, what are you doing?" Thersities asked, who now rocked Gem in his arms, who couldn't see very much anymore.

"Disposing this." Demona explained coldly.

"**MOTHER!!!**" Darlene shouted on her in shock and anger, not caring that Lana shuddered by this and Gem began to cry instantly while her guests just stared on the immortal.

"You **won't** throw it away like garbage." Darlene stated angrily, while rising from the stairs and slowly walking to her mother. "Can't you imagine the pain, the parents of this child will feel if a part of its body is never discovered?"

She paused a second, looking into her mother's cold green eyes.

"Have you forgotten how **you** felt when Lucifia kidnapped Jaheira?" Darlene wanted to know in a more soft voice.

This showed not much reaction by Demona, whose eyes stayed as cold as her face.

"And have **you** forgotten what the humans did just a week ago?" the immortal asked with controlled anger. "Do you want to bring this to the press, maybe together with the tape and a notice: _'Sorry for this_"?

Darlene bit her lip, as she remembered the mob of angry citizens defying the Eyrie building and even storming the castle, all too well and definitely didn't want to see this again.

"Then let the police handle it, Elisa may..." Asrial began, only to be stopped by her sister's snarl, as she reacted rather allergic ally to this name.

"I will not take a risk by informing the humans." Demona told her, looking on Asrial with partly red eyes.

For a moment, both eyes met and Asrial was tempted to look away until a part of her remembered about her former talk this evening.

"Fine," Asrial replied irritated, "but I will inform Goliath and since Chavez is an ally to us, he surely will wish to inform her and Elisa."

Demona stared at her sister, her eyes still partly covered in a red glimmer, but Asrial didn't flinch.

"I'm surrounded by fools." the demon snarled and turned around, walking angrily to the phone.

"Thank you." Darlene whispered to Asrial when her mother was somewhat out of ear reach.

Asrial nodded in return.

Darlene turned to Thersities, who still held a now very vivid Gem in his arms.

"Please bring her up." she asked him. "I'll come then."

Thersities nodded, slowly walking upstairs while he talked to Gem to calm her down.

Darlene meanwhile looked back to her other daughter, who still stared at the packet.

"Lana." she began. "Lana, let's go up... can you stand?"

Lana looked away from the box, up to her mother, slowly nodding and tried to stand up, propping on the wall by her back.

Darlene tried to help her by grabbing one arm, but Lana refused, taking away the arm and rising with one last effort.

Now standing, even when leaned against the wall, Lana looked again to the box, feeling sick, wishing the knowledge of its content to be deleted from her brain.

Darlene looked on her daughter in worry, noticing how the color of her face became slightly green. But before she could say one word, Lana swallowed hard, holding her stomach and running up the stairs in the direction of the W.C.

Darlene followed.

Asrial looked after the two gargesses until they vanished from her sight, finally looking down to Shade who remained at the beginning of the stairs, whining and laying down, watching her in return.

Asrial turned around, looking to the box.


	6. 6The Captain2

**12.08.98; 05:21; Destine Mansion:**

"I was up with Lana until now." Darlene told Chavez, ending her story.

"And I was up there, trying to get Gem to sleep." Thersities, who had joined the group during the half of the report, told them, sitting on a chair. "Something she definitely didn't want."

Chavez nodded, turning to Demona who leaned on the wall, Shade by her side.

"Where had you been before you showed up here?" she asked the immortal.

"That is none of your business." Demona snarled, leaving her position at the wall to stand threatening before the captain.

"We were together." Asrial stopped them, before Demona could say more. "She... showed me around."

Chavez nodded, never taking her eyes from Demona, who still eyed her threatening.

In this moment, Elisa came back from the floor.

"I made a call to the district attorney to see if there had been any kidnapped babies or such." she explained seriously. "There were none, but..."

Elisa looked straight into Chavez's eyes.

"They found a pregnant woman... a dead pregnant woman." Elisa told them. "She was in the last period of pregnancy and seemingly her child had been torn out of her stomach."

Darlene and Asrial gasped in union, while Chavez stayed calm and Thersities gulped.

"Where has the body been found, Detective?" Demona asked Elisa without really looking on her.

"In a church in the eastside." Elisa told her, looking to Demona who preferred to look in an imaginable place ahead of her.

"Naturally." she noticed on this, taking it up as if it was indeed the most natural thing in the world.

"What by the dragon is natural about this?!" Darlene asked her mother unbelieving.

"She is right." Elisa told her. "The patrol discovered the body on the altar."

"Lucifia tried to do the ritual again?" Asrial concluded.

Demona nodded.

In the following silence, Demona leaned back on the wall again.

"And had it succeeded?" Chavez asked her. "Is she immortal again?"

Demona shook her head, deciding not to remind this human that this would have meant much more than just immortality.

"She didn't look like it." she told them.

"She might have used an illusion spell." Elisa noticed.

"Possible, but I don't think so." Demona replied, staring on the wall in front of her. "If she would have succeeded in the ritual, then she would have shown it to us."

Elisa wanted to ask her how she could be so sure of this, but finally decided against it, realizing that Demona was indeed not sure of it.

"Are you ready now?" Demona demanded to know, her patience definitely coming close to an end by this evening.

"We are." Chavez replied, walking to the table to pick up the packet.

"And what will you tell your colleagues at the office?" Demona asked icily, following every one of Chavez's movements.

Chavez took the packet up, studied by everyone in the room, most intensively by this immortal gargess and one of her detectives.

"I will say that someone brought you this packet, Miss Destine." Chavez explained, turning around to look at Demona. "And that you have no idea who it was and why he or she would do this."

Demona nodded, seemingly satisfied by this statement, even when her eyes didn't change at all while Chavez passed her.

"And don't let my name pass to the press." the immortal told the captain when this had practically passed her. "I don't need any reporters here."

"And I don't need a mass-murderer explain to me my job." Chavez noted, turning around to look the immortal straight into her face while believing to still feel warmth emitting from the box.

Demona showed no reaction of turning back, but her eyes showed a glimmer of red in them.

The confrontation lasted a second, until Chavez ended it, turning around and looking to Elisa.

"We are finished here, detective." she told her, beginning to walk to the door.

Elisa nodded, starting to go, but then turning around to Asrial, remembering something.

"Can you please tell Goliath that I'll come later to him?" she asked her.

Asrial nodded, taking a short look to Chavez, surprised that her clan sister spoke so openly with her in ear reach.

"Thank you." Elisa replied with a weak smile, following Chavez outside.

Standing in front of the door again, Elisa wanted to close the door behind her, just to find the door practically slammed shut from inside.

"Mother!!!" she could hear Darlene's indignant voice deadened from inside, deciding to let it be by this and following Chavez to her car.

Elisa stepped in her car, putting her key in the ignition, but not turning it around. She looked to Chavez who sat beside her, the box on her lap.

"Thank you." she told her "In my name and that of the clan. Goliath will..."

"I haven't done it for Goliath, Maza." Chavez replied, looking on her officer. "Or for you... I did it because I don't want the city out of control again, with thousands of angry citizens hunting gargoyles and making it even more difficult for us to stop Lucifia. This and nothing more influenced my decision."

Elisa nodded, looking ahead through the window of her car and waited a second before she started the motor, steering the car back to the police station.


	7. 7The mate

**12.08.98; 06:07; Medicine station, Castle Wyvern:**

"How long do they still need?" Deborah asked, walking up and down in front of the door to the operating theatre.

"You have to have patience, teacher." Goliath told her, working hard not to look at the door himself. "There is nothing we can do."

It had been hours now that his mentor had been anesthetized and taken into this room. Half an hour later, three medical assistants that Xanatos had somehow got by contacts with P.I.T, wordlessly entered the medicine station, racing wordlessly into the room.

Goliath hoped that the long time of waiting was a good sign, showing that there was at least something to do... something to help.

The door opened.

The three medical assistants walked outside, every one of them wore medical dresses, and each had a hard look on their faces.

"What is it?" Deborah asked, looked up. "My mate, how is he?"

A woman with short blond hair took off her mask, avoiding Deborah's seeking eyes.

"You have to ask Dr. Moore." she explained, passing the gargess.

Deborah didn't want to accept this, but before she could drag the woman back, the doors opened again.

It was the clan's healer, entering with her back turned to these gargoyles, waiting while pulling the end of the sickbed in. Deborah raced to the bed, starring down at the unconscious gargoyle lying there.

He breathed, this was the first thing she noticed much to her relief. She looked down to his wounded leg...

Where Hudson's right upper leg should be, the blanket covered nothing... It just laid flat on the bed.

Not wanting to believe what her eyes showed her, Deborah pulled the blanket from this part. She would never forget what she saw in this second...

Her mate's leg was missing, but the first third of his right upper leg.

For a second she could just stare on it, the stump being covered by white bandages that were so damned short.

Deborah looked up to Moore, the doctor stood at the head of the sickbed, who helped to roll it further into the room while looking directly into her eyes.

She was by him faster than Moore had believed a gargoyle could move, grabbing his shoulders and pressing him against the nearest wall, her claws digging into his soft flesh.

"YOU HAVE TAKEN HIS LEG!" Deborah furiously screamed on the human, her eyes shining blood red.

"Would you rather have him dead?" Dr. Moore threw back on her, angry himself since his frustration mixed with the screaming pain he felt in his shoulders. "We had no other choice than this."

Deborah felt her anger dwindling a bit by these words, the possibility of having lost her mate made her feel even worse.

"I saw it with my own eyes." the clan's healer told her from behind, her voice sounding sad and sympathetic. "Too large parts of the bone were infected and brittle... and it would have spread even more if we hadn't done anything."

While she still stared on Moore, Deborah felt Goliath's strong claw resting on her own shoulder while she slowly took her own claws from Moore's bleeding shoulder.

"He did what he could." Goliath, having come over the initial shock by himself, told her. "Let him be, teacher."

Deborah resisted at first, but then took a look on her unconscious mate and took her claws off the human.

The clan's healer continued to pull the sickbed further into the room until it finally was place by a wall, in an order to the other beds.

Deborah followed it, always being by the side of her mate, having tears in her eyes and just barely holding them back while holding Hudson's right claw.

"When will he wake up?" Goliath asked the doctor, who now took down his mask.

"Probably not before sunrise." Moore explained, looking to his patient.

Silence spread in the room when all looked to Hudson, lying on the bed and his mate by his side.

Finally, Deborah began to speak without looking up from her mate.

"Please, leave me alone with him..." she asked, her voice sounding weak. "At least, until tomorrow."

"We will." Goliath told her, taking a last look on his unconscious mentor and then following Dr. Moore outside, noticing the color of red spreading on his shoulders.

When she heard the doors fell shut, Deborah knew she was alone with her mate and allowed herself to cry openly, never stopping to look on the other part of her soul.

**To be continued... **


End file.
